Previews

Eragon

Magic is an important part of the Eragon character, but it had to be simplified to an extent for use by the player. By intoning words in the language of magic, Eragon can both push and pull enemies, knocking them back to create space, for instance. He can also ignite enemies with magical fire, or create a magic shield to defend himself from attacks.

The most exciting part of Eragon for gamers to look forward to is undoubtedly Saphira, his dragon companion. When playing through the game's action-adventure levels, Saphira will serve several roles. For one, she can be called in to assist in battles, swooping down from above and vanquishing foes as a special attack of sorts. And other times, Saphira serves as a sort of context-sensitive attack, interacting with the environment or under certain conditions to enable scripted attacks that can either clear the way for continued progress, or significantly assist during certain battles that would seem impossible otherwise.

One such instance of these scripted dragon scenes occurred while Eragon and Brom were trekking through a mountain pass, fighting the game's primary enemy, the ogrish Urgals, at every corner. In the background, there was a wooden bridge where enemies were streaming across, intent upon reaching our heroes. An icon appeared on screen, and after hitting the corresponding button, Eragon called to Saphira. She swept down from the skies, destroying the bridge and sending a mass of Urgals falling to their deaths below. With enough of these scenes in the game, Eragon will feel significantly different from other action-adventure games.

In addition to the action-adventure levels, there will be parts of the game where Eragon takes to the skies on Saphira's back. During these parts, the first player will fly Saphira, while the second player will control Eragon. Saphira can breathe flames, of course, and the level I saw had her igniting oil fields while flying around a treacherous rocky canyon.

While we don't know whether or not the film will succeed at the box office, it's clear that the developers have taken special care to deliver the film experience to gamers. The game's level design makes extensive use of set designs from the film, which resulted in multi-tiered areas that give heated action sequences the kind of depth that you rarely see in the traditionally open environments that similar games have used in the past. Stay tuned, as we'll have more on Eragon in the near future.